- Paperback: 197 pages
- Publisher: Da Capo Press Inc; 2nd Revised edition edition (Oct 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0306808064
- ISBN-13: 978-0306808067
- Product Dimensions: 25.4 x 18.3 x 1.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,568,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
From its beginnings in turn-of-the-century Paris and throughout its sixty-year reign of terror, the Theatre of the Grand Guignol gleefully celebrated horror and fear. Innocent victims, mangled beauty, insanity, mutilation, depravity, and guilt were its primary themes. By dissecting primal taboos in an unprecedentedly graphic manner, it became the progenitor of all the blood-spilling, eye-gouging, and limb-hacking "splatter" movies of today. This first English-language book on Grand Guignol examines its history, themes, and methods; summarizes its plots; provides the texts of two typical plays; and illustrates it with close to 100 pictures.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
This book finally gives the theater of fear and terror it's rightful billing as the catalist for just about everything concerned parents fight against in the entertainment industry of today. Not only is it a wonderful historical source on a theater movement that has fallen by the wayside, but it also acts as a recipe book for those who would like to attempt a re-animation of shock theater from another era. The ingredients are all in there. You get two full length plays ready to go, 100 plots of the most crowd pleasing shows, secrets of achieving realistic bloodshed on stage and enough history and critical theory so that you can defend, as art and preservation, all the gore you can fit on the stage. Even if you're not a performer, the perspective of the book gives anyone interested in the motives behind historical pastimes a wonderful glimse into the entertanment needs oy yesteryear. Seriously folks, it's a treasure on many levels and any bookshelf.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Rare Glimpse of a Forgotten & Fascinating History
2 May 2000
From 1897 through the early 1960s, a singular theater in Paris performed a unique kind of spectacle. Low comedy and high terror collided on the stage of the Grand Guignol. Brutal tales of crime and horror featured startling, bloody special effects that prefigured the gory slasher movies of generations to come. Meanwhile, broad and bizarre farces alternated laughs with thrills. Conceived as a kind of "giant puppet" show, the theater was intended to appeal to the rawest emotions and most basic instincts of the audience -- to give adults a cathartic release through mad behavior not unlike the exaggerated action that excited children in a "Punch and Judy" show. The theater's dark, ironic, and perverse tales were instrumental in helping to shape German Expressionism and the cinema of horror. Mel Gordon's unique survey of the theater and its plays is a one-of-a-kind resource, giving readers a vivid glimpse into this forgotten chapter of theatrical history. The book provides overviews of the history of the theater and its its rippling effect on popular culture. The book also features synopses of popular plays from the Guignol repertoire -- fascinating descriptions of lurid one-acts with titles like "Orgy in the Lighthouse", "On the Slab," "Meat Ticket", "The Coffin of Flesh", and "Prison for Children". Some wild illustrations top it all off. All in all, it's a fascinating book for anyone interested in the outre side of pop culture. It's indispensable for anyone who's a student of horror or of the theater's stranger side.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
And you thought splatter flicks from the 80's were intense.
30 May 2001
I first heard about the Grand Guignal from the title of a book by L.-F. Celine (GUIGNAL'S BAND). The same author made another reference to it in a later work when he was describing the panic displayed by civilians fleeing an air raid. Being curious by nature, I felt compelled to learn more about this place where murder, madness, and mayhem were the norm, and atrocity was displayed for willing audiences most days of the week. Now, I'm not the type who enjoys senseless violence. I like substance to be the basis of my entertainment. If bloodshed is depicted, it had better serve a purpose by HELPING TO TELL THE STORY. However, I have a great deal of respect for those who try to push the bounds of what is accepted for the sake of creativity. If they are successful in furthering the cause of art by shaking things up, even better. The Grand Guignal Theater was quite successful, opening its doors to packed houses for over 80 years. At one time, it was included in most tourist guides of Paris as a must-see attraction. The book did a good job at giving the history and key players who took part in the theater's development. Many photographs and illustrations are included, as well as a listing of the Guignal's most popular plays. Horror was not the only theme pursued. Bawdy humor and social commentary were just as important. My only criticism is that I would have liked to have read more of the actual plays (a few--three, I belive--are included). Perhaps the author might be willing to give us a companion edition, eh?
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